People Power | Political Agenda | Happiness | Families & Homes

Real Family Values

9 progressive policies to support our families.

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by Sarah van Gelder

posted Oct 25, 2010

Real Family Values spread


		Every family needs a place to live. When banks use our homes and mortgages to make bets in the global casino, we wind up with predatory lending, financial bubbles, crashes, and foreclosures: Shared Equity Home Ownership is a way to make homes permanently affordable. Community groups or local agencies invest in homes and share the equity with homeowners. When a homeowner sells, the agency shares in any gain, recycling the funds to keep homes permanently affordable. The foreclosure rate in Community Land Trusts, one example of this model, is 1/8th the national rate. Protect families from foreclosures by allowing judges to modify unaffordable loans.

		Government stimulus spending should be aimed at a recovery that can support families, communities, and the natural environment. Green and locally based jobs are our best bets: Fund job programs that create and retain jobs at the local level. Give preference to communities with high unemployment and to green jobs. Increase the minimum wage so that those who work can support their families and increase local economic activity. (In most of northern Europe, the minimum wage is $12 an hour or more.) And end pay discrimination against women, people of color, and single moms.

		Many families care for disabled children and spouses, and elderly parents. Here are ways we can support them: Protect Social Security from those who would like to cut it to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Help the elderly and disabled live at home by financing upgrades that make homes more accessible and weather proof. Provide full VA benefits and protection from job discrimination for veterans with PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and other disabilities. Support community-based centers with services and mutual support for veterans. Support home caregivers through tax credits, payments toward their Social Security, and respite services.
		Time is essential to good family life. Children, couples, and elders need companionship, vacations, and time to respond to life’s crises. In Europe, workers have at least four weeks paid vacation, and in Germany and the Netherlands, they have the right to switch to part-time hours: Make part-time schedules available with equal (pro-rated) wages, benefits, and opportunities for promotion. Part-time work spreads jobs and income around and allows time for family. Make paid sick leave available to all, and allow parents to use it to care for ill family members. Give both parents paid leave following the birth or adoption of a baby. Guarantee paid vacation for all workers.

		One in five children live in poverty in the United States. Many children attend failing and even dangerous schools. Our kids deserve better: Fully fund Head Start and K-12 education. And give kids opportunities for exercise, art, music, and self-expression—don’t let tests rule. Strengthen community colleges and the Pell Grant system so all qualified young people can go to college and contribute to the future of their families and our nation. End the “cradle-to-prison pipeline” through local collaborations that intervene when young people get into trouble. The funds saved by lowering the rate of juvenile detention can be invested in substance-abuse treatment and education. Protect our kids from advertising, especially in schools, that promotes an unhealthy, consumer-oriented lifestyle.

		Health and health care costs are big worries for American families. Extend Medicare to everyone 55 and older, to pregnant mothers, and to children. Better yet, extend Medicare to all. End tax write-offs for advertising fatty, sugary foods that are making Americans sick. Fully fund domestic violence shelters, which are in high demand during the recession. Protect families from exposure to cancer-causing contaminants. Use precautionary regulation, which forces manufacturers to prove chemicals are safe before putting them in our homes, workplaces, and schools, instead of the current approach, which puts the burden on consumers or regulators to prove harm. Give special attention to vulnerable groups—like children, farmworkers, and those in cancer “hot spots.” Fund research into safe alternatives to toxic chemicals.

		Making our tax system more equitable could bring down the deficit; sustain family-friendly local, state, and federal government programs; and help reduce vast inequality, which threatens the health of all families, rich and poor. Make the first $20,000 of income free from payroll taxes. Make up for it by applying payroll taxes to incomes above $250,000. Tax capital gains at the same rate as other income. Under President Eisenhower, the top marginal rate was 91 percent; today, it is just 35 percent. Bring Back the Estate Tax on estates over $2 million ($4 million for a couple). Close offshore tax-havens that corporations use to hide profits and evade at least $100 billion in taxes each year. Share the revenues with struggling state and local governments for programs that support family well-being.

		Our children, grandchildren, and great-grand-children deserve to inherit vibrant ecosystems, a strong democracy, and opportunities for a good life Transition to renewable, clean energy. Invest massively in energy efficiency. Build infrastructure—like bike lanes and efficient transit—that makes sense in a time of energy constraints and climate disruption. Free elections from wealthy special interests. Start by overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to spend unlimited amounts on campaigns. End subsidies to Wall Street. Invest in local jobs and sustainable communities. Protect our heritage of diverse species and healthy habitats.
		... by making it available to all committed couples, gay or straight. Hospital visits, family leave to care for an ill partner, and spousal health care and pension benefits should be available to both straight and gay couples. Reform immigration law and stop separating families through detention and deportation.
Sarah van Gelder wrote this article for What Happy Families Know, the Winter 2011 issue of YES! Magazine. Sarah is YES! Magazine's executive editor. Editorial interns Tiffany Ran and Alyssa Johnson contributed research to this article. Interested? Our Families Can't Afford To Stay Home On Election Day: Sure, lots of us are frustrated by the economy, the war, and lack of progress in Washington, D.C. But there's too much at stake to stay home on election day. 10 Ways To Solve The Jobs Problem: Imagine a no-holds-barred “summit” that comes up with ideas to solve both our job and environmental problems. What might it come up with? A World Fit For Children: A movement to put children’s rights at the center of our collective decisions is taking hold—and it’s good news for adults, too. Pioneers of the New Normal: We’re facing a very different world than the one we knew. Here’s what people are doing to prepare. Want the Good Life? Your Neighbors Need it Too: The healthiest and happiest societies don't have more, but what they have is more equitably shared.

CITATIONS AND RESOURCES

SAFEGUARD OUR HOMES

Shared Equity Housing explained
Center for Community Change on Housing Trust Funds, a source of funding for shared equity housing
Shelterforce, a great resource on affordable housing and activism

CREATE JOBS

Green for All campaigns for jobs in energy efficiency and renewable energy for low-income people.
Moms Rising advocates a fair deal for all mothers

PROTECT VULNERABLE FAMILY MEMBERS

Move On’s campaign to protect Social Security
AARP study on policies that would help older people “age in place.”
Caregiving in the U.S.: A Focused Look at Those Caring for Someone Age 50 or Older [pdf], produced by the National Alliance for Caregiving.
L.A. Times article on job challenges facing veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.
Testimony of Stacy Bannerman, M.S., author of “When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind” (2006) to the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health's hearing on Mental Health Impacts of Iraq War on the Families of Guard/Reserve Veterans.

BALANCE WORK AND LIFE

Conversation with author, filmmaker, and activist John de Graaf, national coordinator, Take Back Your Time.
Moms Rising on why paid sick time is needed.

GIVE KIDS A BREAK

Children’s Defense Fund (CDF)
CDF statistics on child poverty
CDF’s Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline campaign
Center for a New American Dream on kids and commercialism

PROTECT OUR HEALTH

Medicare for All (single-payer health care)
Physicians for a National Health Program
The President’s Cancer Panel’s recommendations on protection from environmental sources of cancer

TAX FAIRLY

Former secretary of labor Robert Reich’s recommendations
“Taxes: Myths And Realities,” from Campaign for America’s Future

PROTECT OUR FUTURE

 Overturn Citizens United Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited campaign spending
Alliance for Democracy is working on the Citizens United issue.
Also, of course, YES! Magazine

SUPPORT MARRIAGE

Human Rights Campaign

YES! Magazine encourages you to make free use of this article by taking these easy steps. Gelder, S. v. (2010, October 20). Real Family Values. Retrieved May 22, 2012, from YES! Magazine Web site: http://cms.yesmagazine.org/issues/what-happy-families-know/real-family-values. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License

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Reader Comments

REAL family values

Posted by Anna at Oct 26, 2010 12:48 PM

These are the kind of family values that I practice and aspire to.

I Am A Values Voter

Posted by Jhana at Oct 26, 2010 01:01 PM

I AM A VALUES VOTER

I am a Values Voter: I value peace and tolerance in the community, so
that all children are free from bullying, all my neighbors are free
from intimidation, and my community and my nation are strengthened
through unity.

I am Values Voter: I value Freedom of Religion, so that I and my
neighbors can have a relationship with all that is most deeply
profound to each of us, in a way that it is meaningful to each of us.

I am a Values Voter: I value clean air and water, and food free of
poisons, so that all children are safe from the threat of diminished
health and ability; so I and my neighbors can experience the full
vitality of health that we were created to experience.

I am a Values Voter: I value the wonder, complexity, and awe-inspiring
beauty of the world. I show respect for the Creator, whoever or
whatever that may be, by showing respect for creation. I vote for
those who protect our wild areas, who integrate concern for wildlife
and native plants in their plans, and who make sure that all children
can experience the world as it was created, beyond the walls of brick
and concrete.

I am a Values Voter: I value stable communities, built on sustainable,
honorable jobs. I will vote for those who protect American jobs and
who demand fair pay and safe working conditions.

I am a Values Voter: I value honesty and integrity in the business
community. I know that putting a business suit on fraudulent and
negligent behavior does not make it respectable. I will vote for those
who do not collude with dishonest business interests. I will vote for
those leaders who will oppose corruption, and who will enforce tough
penalties on well-dressed crooks.

I am a Values Voter: I respect Life and will vote for those who seek
to reduce violence in the home, on the street, and abroad. I will
vote for those who know that the killing, wounding, and displacement
of civilians overseas in the conflicts we wage is grievously immoral,
and results in the creation of more enemies and so does not serve our
national interest.

I am a Values Voter: I value sensible budgets and do not believe that
more than one million dollars a minute (sources: National Priorities
Project and the American Friends Service Committee) spent on military
related expenses is the best use of our tax money. I will vote for
those courageous enough to turn off the bloody spigot of endless,
labyrinthine spending for endless war.

I am Values Voter: I respect Life and do not believe our biggest
export should be the machines of death. I will vote for those who
chose Life over death, and who will lead us to become the world’s
greatest innovator in green sustainable technologies and products,
that we may again export with American pride.

I am a Values Voter: I respect privacy and do not believe that the
government, or any of its contracted mercenaries, should have the
right to spy on citizens without a warrant. I will vote for those
leaders who will pull the plug on the shadow government and end
unjustified surveillance of Americans.

I am a Values Voter: I respect Life and so I will vote for leaders
willing to work hard to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, to
promote adoption and fostering, to end child abuse and neglect, to see
that no child in America is malnourished, cold, homeless, or enslaved.

I am a Values Voter: I respect Life and so I vote for those who are
willing to work with communities to provide meaningful activities and
involvements for youth, environments that promote healthy self-respect
and that provide the tools with which to accomplish great dreams.

I am a Values Voter: I respect Life and so I want every child to have
a decent start, with safe places to play and good schools to attend;
with libraries and activities available to them that expand their
horizons and give them the inspiration to become thinking, caring,
creative, and responsible adults.

I am a Values Voter: I value my elders. I want the elderly of my
community to be treated with respect. I don’t want the elders of any
community to live alone in fear. I will vote for leaders who will
protect Social Security and find new ways to enhance the life quality
for our elders.

I am a Values Voter: I respect the First Nations whose home this land
is and has been for thousands of years. I understand that, in terms of
history, my beloved United States is a young nation, and one that has
made brutal and ignorant mistakes. I know that acknowledging this
makes us stronger, braver – more moral as a people, and better able to
build a strong tomorrow. I will vote for leaders not afraid to
acknowledge the truth.

I am a Values Voter: I know that First Nations Americans and those of
many races whose ancestors were brought by force as indentured
servants or slaves have the right to a full and accurate accounting of
history, to have their ancestors and their story valued and respected.
It is their right and their gift as Americans to help define a greater
vision of hope and unity than would ever be possible without this full
awareness. I will vote for leaders with the moral courage to call on
the vision of all Americans to create our future.

I am a Values Voter: I know that all Americans, except First Nations
Americans and those who were brought by force, are immigrants. I know
that every immigrant came hoping for a better life, whether we came
two hundred years ago or yesterday. I know that hope defines the
American dream; it is the hope of living without fear of oppression,
free from religious intolerance, and free from exploitation and abuse
by profiteers. That is the American dream and only together can we
realize it, and only by facing the ways in which we ourselves oppress
and profiteer. I will vote for leaders who have not lost sight of the
dream that makes us America.

I am a Values Voter: I value education and the power of innovation and
the free exchange of ideas to move us, as a nation and as a world,
into a new Renaissance. I will vote for leaders who will return the
educational system to the people making it accessible to all; leaders
who will again embrace the challenge of raising a nation of thinkers,
wise in their understanding and broad in their knowledge.

I am Values Voter: I value freedom and do not believe that government
has the right to tell consenting adults who they may marry, and who
they may not -- who they may love, or who they may not love.

I am a Values Voter: I believe that healing is a sacred calling – not
a stock market asset. I believe that all people have the right to seek
healing and that no one should be denied healing; including healing
that is not limited to manufactured drugs and surgery, but includes
the time-tested traditional methods of working with the body through
nutrition, exercise, natural plants, mind, and emotion.

I am a Values Voter: I respect creation and do not believe the
government has the right to make one plant, placed on this earth by
the Creator, illegal; while making thousands of manufactured drugs and
poisons that sicken and kill us every day through side effects,
interactions, and pollution -- legal.

I am a Values Voter: I respect Life and will vote for those who will
acknowledge the intolerable brutality of factory “farms” as well as
the human health dangers and the pollution they create. I will vote
for those who will close these nightmares down and promote
sustainable, humane farms.

I am a Values Voter: I believe in community and will vote for those
willing to restore our infrastructure in such a way that our
re-emergent communities are human-scale and nature friendly, with
thought given to creating opportunities for healthy human interaction,
with safe places for people of all ages and walks of life to come
together and enjoy the gifts of community.

I am a Values Voter: I believe in the dignity of human Life and I
reject the abandonment of our nation’s growing number of homeless
individuals and families. I will vote for leaders who will help us
find a way to restore affordable housing, and the means to climb back
up the precipice.

I am a Values Voter: I value Truth. I expect truthfulness from my
leaders, from the media, and from those with whom I do business. I
will vote for those who will oppose deception, and who will pull back
the curtain to expose the powerful forces that spread the seeds of
hatred and discord to further their own ends and divide our nation.

I am a Values Voter: And I am not a fool. I know perfectly well that
corporations are not people. I expect my leaders to see the obvious
also, and proclaim that the Emperor has no clothes. I further know
that there is no true legal precedent, only a comment in a header made
by a court reporter with ties to the railroad industry (Santa Clara
County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, source: Thom Hartmann, Unequal
Protection), and yet our nation is imperiled by the flood of corporate
and foreign money injected into our domestic elections and into the
pockets of our Senators and Representatives. I will vote for those who
will clean up this outrage against the real people – we the American
people.

I am a Values Voter: I value the right to vote as much as I value my
citizenship. I will demand that my leaders safeguard free and fair
elections by taking secretive, proprietary black boxes out of our
election booths – and putting a clear, transparent paper trail back.

I am a Values Voter: I believe that meaning in life derives from how I
relate to my family and friends, and whether I have a positive impact
on my community and the world – not from how many riches I amass for
myself. I will vote for leaders who share that perspective.

I am a Values Voter: I believe in the power of Love over hate,
kindness over cruelty, creativity over destruction, honesty over
deception, cooperation over greed, and hope over despair.

I have Values – and I Vote.

Well said

Posted by Forrest at Nov 28, 2010 05:40 PM

These are great values to vote by. Let's turn out in great numbers in 2012.

Real Values

Posted by Kathleen at Oct 26, 2010 06:42 PM

What a breath of fresh air! I am sick and tired of people who claim to be "moral" but behave immorally. "Christians" would deny healthcare, food, adequate shelter and a good education to millions of American children based purely on the accident of their being born into poverty. The "real" moral majority needs to get a voice and start shouting this message from the rooftops. www.killingmother.blogspot.com.

Agree with 8 out of 9

Posted by Anna Churchill at Oct 27, 2010 06:38 AM

Wholeheartedly agree with eight out of nine of these recommendations, but I feel simply 'supporting marriage' is shortsighted. Instead I encourage us to support the rights of all types of families, married or unmarried.

Values

Posted by Nathan Duhamel at Dec 03, 2010 09:31 AM

Well said. But just wondering about the rights of unborn children- at what point in the fetus' development does it become entitled to all the aforementioned rights? How can one be truly pro family if they believe that it is their right to decide to terminate the existence of another potential member if the family? Im talking about elective procedures, not those required for medical reasons or other extenuating circumstances. I realize that the moderator may not publish this comment, but it is simply intended to create a dialogue. I'm interested to hear what people think

Bill of rights computer program

Posted by and broliust. at Dec 11, 2010 02:36 PM

Bill of rights computer program helps children who are already born and adults by knowning they are being listened to sonce their ideas being implemented. similar with united nations computer program.
Failure to invest in similar tech with what was available for League of Nations and encourage research into more enabled Nazis to rise to power in world war 3. i say 3 because count world wide war against aboriginals from North America to South Pacific by Europeans as The First World War which was fought till around 1899 and ended with Trail of Tears and Cherokee people put on reservations.
count second world war as 1914-1918 the 3 from 1930's-1945

abortion issue

Posted by Emma at Jan 12, 2012 04:46 PM

The problem doesn't lie with granting a fetus rights to personhood. Personhood does not grant one the right to physically occupy another person's body against their will. You cannot be forced to donate a kidney or even blood if you do not want to. You cannot even be made to donate organs once you're *dead* unless you've consented. So, similarly, it is wrong to force someone to carry a pregnancy to term against her will. Pregnancy is incredibly difficult, mentally and physically, and it can be extremely dangerous--even deadly. A right to life is not the right to borrow another person's organs, even temporarily, without their consent.